1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display technology, and more specifically, to a transflective liquid crystal display (LCD) device and its forming method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a LCD panel comprises a color film substrate and an array substrate combined together, encasing a liquid crystal layer in between. Given that liquid crystal molecules emit no light, a display panel needs a light source to show images. Based on the type of light sources adopted, LCD devices can be categorized as transimissive LCD, reflective LCD or transflective LCD.
A transmissive LCD panel mostly adopts a backlight source, which is installed on the back of the panel. Pixel electrodes on the array substrate are transparent, constituting a transmissive area, so that a beam from the backlight source can go through the liquid crystal layer and display images.
A reflective LCD panel mostly utilizes a front light or an external light as its light source. Pixel electrodes on the array substrate are reflective, constituting a reflective area capable of reflecting a beam from the front light source or external light source.
A transflective LCD panel can be taken as a mixture of the transmissive and reflective panels. Both a reflective area and a transmissive area are on the array substrate of the transflective LCD panel, so it is able to display images by using either the backlight source, or the front light source and external light source.
To build the transflective LCD panel, the conventional practice is to assemble two liquid crystal cells, one installed as the transmissive area and the other as the reflective area. In addition, an initial alignment of liquid crystal molecules is usually done by rubbing, which poses a technical challenge in the design of cells as a difference in thickness of the two cells will lead to poor rubbing and dark-state light leakage.